Fabrication of PTFE thin films by dual catalytic chemical vapor deposition method

Dependence of catalyzing materials on deposition of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE = ”Teflon” in commercial) films by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) method is investigated. It has been clarified that Ni-containing catalyzers has a catalyzing effect that can decompose hexafluoropropylene-oxide (HFPO) to form PTFE films. A novel method named Dual Cat-CVD is also proposed. In the method, carbonized and fluorinated surface of Ni-containing catalyzer is removed and refreshed using atomic hydrogen generated by additionally introduced tungsten (W) catalyzer in the same chamber. This Dual Cat-CVD method enables to recover the deposition rate of PTFE films drastically.